Writing in a journal is a great way to express your thoughts and reflect on various facets of life—it’s an activity that’s highly recommended for personal development and jump-starting your journey to self-discovery. But for those who have never kept a diary or had a blog it may be difficult to jot their daily reflections down and put their most intimate thoughts into words. Leather bound journals can be quite intimidating to open up to, so instead of writing all your hopes and dreams down right away, try customizing your journal.

I recently decorated a journal that I gave to my niece. It was a personal gift that had so much meaning! I made it on “Sparkle and Inspire” with Cindy Harrison.

Alice Through the Looking Glass inspired Journal by Melissa Reyes

It’s up to you how you personalize your journal, but in case you are in need of ideas, you can experiment with some “vintage” themes such as the timeless classic game of bingo. In the past few years, people of all ages have shown a newfound appreciation for the game that was once associated with grandmothers spending all day in bingo halls, attending unconventional bingo parties and pub nights. And many people still appreciate the game in its original form, which is why gaming operators still offer old fashioned 90 ball games with classic bingo calls. If you watch Netflix, you might have seen a recent episode of Grace and Frankie where a Singing Drag Queen Bingo caller came to visit when Sol (Sam Waterston) arranged a surprise for Robert (Martin Sheen) while in the hospital. Here in Los Angeles, you can experience this at Legendary Bingo at Hamburger Mary’s in West Hollywood.

Perhaps bingo brings us back to a simpler time that allows us to reminisce, a perfect theme to incorporate in your custom made journal. To make your bingo journal, you will need a selection of cards from an old bingo set that can be glued on the front and back covers of any notebook. If you want to make the journal from scratch, you can buy hole-punched notebook paper at any stationery store and create holes in the bingo cards so that you can weave the entire book together. You also have the option of adding tabs in your journal if you want to have different sections for your ideas.

Feel free to add your own decorations onto the cover, or make a bookmark using bingo chips and paper clips. In the video above Cindy shows me how to use metallic paints and torn paper to make a vintage look combined with photos from popular movies.

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